The American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology is pushing back on anesthesia reimbursement changes Kaiser Foundation Health Plan has implemented in Washington state.

Under the changes, which took effect Nov. 1, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Washington and its subsidiary, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Washington Options, will no longer reimburse anesthesia services when claims are submitted without identifying who performed the service. In addition, reimbursement for services provided by a certified registered nurse anesthetist were lowered to 85% of the physician fee schedule.

"This reimbursement reduction clearly discriminates against CRNAs based on their licensure because the policy does not affect any other anesthesia providers who offer the same services as CRNAs," AANA President Jan Setnor, MSN, CRNA, said in a Dec. 10 statement.

Ms. Setnor argued the policy will "devastate healthcare delivery" by impeding patients' access to healthcare and represents the latest example of commercial payers making anesthesia reimbursement changes that conflict with the ACA's federal provider nondiscrimination provision.

"We call on Kaiser and other commercial payors to reverse course on these other discriminatory policies immediately," Ms. Setnor said. "We also call on HHS to enforce the provider nondiscrimination provision of the ACA to protect patients' access to care."

Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente, one of the largest nonprofit healthcare providers in the nation, stood by its policy in a Dec. 12 statement shared with Becker's.

"While we will continue our focus on keeping care affordable for our members, we will not implement changes in reimbursement rates for anesthesia services provided by certified registered nurse anesthetists. We have returned to previous reimbursement rate levels, retroactive to November 1, 2024," a spokesperson said.